Chapter 60: A Fucking Apocalypse?

It happened during the night. The sound of attacks hitting the academy’s defenses echoed, waking everyone up.

I wasn’t sleeping in my dorm bed, but rather on the bed I had built inside my pocket dimension.

The fluctuations of power woke me up, and I immediately left my pocket dimension. Over the past few days, I hadn’t just read about the demons, but I had also absorbed a lot of the monster crystals we took from that treasure room.

With Bob giving me a 10x multiplier, I had a massive amount of crystals. None of them improved my ability again, but they did increase my stats. And I already had some pretty good stats to begin with.

[Name: Vincent Crane]

[STR: 203]

[AGI: 231]

[VIT: 270]

[WIL: 104]

WIL was the attribute I needed to improve the most, but it was getting there. Monster crystals that increased WIL were rare, so the best way to improve it was just by using my ability. That took time.

Still, those attributes were already high enough for me to take the B-Rank hunter test, which was nice.

With that much power in my body now, I wasn’t all that scared when the academy came under attack. Sure, it was a bad situation, but I was confident I could easily escape if things went south.

"Bro, things aren’t looking good," Ethan told me as soon as I stepped out of the pocket dimension. "It’s not just this place under attack. Other academies and cities are getting hit, too. People are saying this is the start of the apocalypse."

I frowned.

"What the fuck? Are you serious?"

Ethan showed me some short videos on social media. Seattle, a city not too far from where we were, had been swarmed by monsters pouring out of the dungeons. There was even a video of an entire building collapsing. It was completely absurd.

I knew it was just a matter of time until the monsters left the rifts and attacked everything. Incidents of monsters escaping had been increasing over the past few years, especially with the sudden appearance of the so-called Unstable Rifts.

But I had no idea it would happen so soon. Just as I was finally having a good time in the academy, the shit hit the fan.

We left our dorm building and met up with the other students outside. Everyone from the first years to the seniors was out there, along with a few teachers who were desperately trying to keep the crowd calm.

Frederic was there as well, and for the first time, he was actually using his ability. The man was floating above the academy, his body wreathed in fire. The flames were what kept him in the air, acting like two jet turbines on his back.

"EVERYONE, ATTENTION!"

The students fell silent. A few were still yelling, terrified by the balls of energy crashing against the academy’s protective barrier, but most stopped talking.

"We are under attack. It isn’t just here, but all over the country and all over the world. Things are not looking good for humankind right now. I hate to say this, but you all need to escape. You need to leave this academy."

"I know some of you want to graduate and become official hunters, but I have already spoken with the Hunter Society. Your status won’t be affected. After everything goes back to normal, classes will resume. And if things don’t go back to normal, you can still take a test to prove you have the skill to become an official hunter."

"We have no idea why this is happening, how bad it really is, or how long it will last. Be extremely careful when you leave. And whatever you do, don’t head toward Seattle. Things are pretty damn bad over there."

"Professor Dorian will show you the secret way out."

Everyone was still in shock, even after Frederic’s explanation. I was, too. Judging by the videos I had seen on social media, plus the way he had spoken, things were a lot worse than they seemed.

Tom and Ethan were with me.

"What do we do now? We should stick together," Tom said.

Staying together would be better, for sure, though I wasn’t entirely certain they would be of much help to me. The difference in strength between us was just too vast. I was way beyond them at this point.

"Let’s leave first and see how things go," I said. "But no matter what happens, we’re still friends, bros. Just don’t die."

Selena and Brian came over to speak with us. The siblings were the last two members of our group.

"I overheard you," Selena said. "Sadly, we won’t be going with you. We need to return to our family to see if they’re alright. Our house is isolated, so I think we might be safe."

She then showed us exactly where her house was, just in case we ever needed to find them in the future.

"Follow me, everyone!" Dorian yelled.

All the students followed him through the academy. The attacks were still ongoing. I looked up and saw the blue protective barrier surrounding the academy getting pounded by balls of energy non-stop. The entire place was shaking, and although the barrier didn’t look like it was breaking yet, I knew it was only a matter of time. No barrier could hold out forever.

The secret exit was located behind one of the passcoded doors inside the academy’s main building. Dorian opened it, and we followed him down an underground tunnel that led outside.

Leaving through that tunnel was a fucking mess. Dorian was at the front, making sure no student rushed ahead. If they tried, he shoved them back, not caring at all.

He had to maintain order, or else no one would escape. The tunnel wasn’t narrow, but with that many students inside, it did feel a little claustrophobic.

"I think we might have to part ways, too," Tom whispered in my ear. "After hearing Selena, I really want to check on my family, especially with my brother’s disappearance. They will be worried."

Ethan felt the same way. He wanted to visit his family, who lived very far from where we were.

Everyone had a family to visit. I didn’t. I had no family.

It was sad to think about, but at least I didn’t have anyone to worry about in that shitty situation, and there was no one worrying about me, either. So maybe being alone was a good thing.

Anyway, the tunnel was pretty damn long, stretching for almost thirty miles! We were all hunters, so running that distance wasn’t too tiring for us.

Eventually, we saw the exit. It was lit by the full moon outside.

Dorian stood in front of the exit and turned to speak with us one last time.

"I’ll have to return to defend the academy with the other teachers," he said. "Each of you, leave. Go as far as you can and find a safe place. Be it your home or somewhere else, but please, avoid going into the big cities. Things are a fucking mess there, like the principal said earlier. Good luck, everyone, and I hope we can meet up again in the future."

All the students ran past Dorian after he said that. In just a few seconds, everyone had exited the tunnel and disappeared into the dense forest. Some were using their abilities to move faster, while others were just relying on their physical strength.

Brian turned into a massive wolf. Selena hopped on his back, and the two siblings took off.

I remained standing there, Tom and Ethan still beside me.

Dorian walked over to us.

"What the fuck is happening, Professor?" I asked him. "Is this an apocalypse?"

"Kid, I have no idea. Apocalypse might be a strong word to describe it, but the world is certainly changing. I don’t think it will ever go back to normal."

"There are just too many beasts leaving the rifts, and the villains are finally coming out of their hideouts to attack. We don’t have enough awakened people to defend against all those monsters."

"I won’t be surprised if the population is drastically reduced, and some cities turn into ghost towns..."

Fuck. Dorian said apocalypse was a strong word to describe it, but hearing what he said, it sounded like exactly that. The shit had finally hit the fan.

"Go now," he said, "and be careful. You’re quite talented, so I know you’ll survive."

Dorian then ran back through the tunnel, this time moving much faster. At that speed, he would reach the academy in just five minutes.

We were alone, looking down the mountain with the full moon to our right. The night was both deadly and beautiful. It marked the day the whole world changed.

"Don’t be so down," Ethan said, trying to cheer us up. "We’ll survive this and meet up in the future, alright? Let’s check on our families first, and then we’ll regroup. I’ll be much stronger when we meet again."

"Same," Tom said. "I might try to look for my brother, too. If the world is all messed up, then maybe they’ll allow me to visit that new continent."

"Don’t risk your life going there, Tom," I said. "It’s dangerous. Get strong first."

He nodded. I wasn’t sure if he would actually listen, but at least I got it off my chest. We said our goodbyes, trying not to make it too emotional.

They each headed in a different direction, while I stood there on top of that mountain, still looking out at the horizon.

Where the hell should I go now, and what the fuck should I do?